Introduction
In recent years, Central Eastern Europe (CEE) has emerged as a vibrant and dynamic player in the European startup ecosystem. CEE is home to 8k+
funded startups including over
45 unicorns and
40+ future unicorns.
Central Eastern Europe includes the following list of countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.
Venture Capital
Venture Capital investment across CEE reached
over $6.3B in 2022, its second best year on record.
While this is a small 3% drop from the peaks of 2021, it is still 2x larger than 2020.
By stage
Early stage
Access early-stage funding rounds into CEE startups
here on the Dealroom platform.
Breakout stage
Access breakout-stage funding rounds into CEE startups
here on the Dealroom platform.
Scaleup stage
Access scaleup-stage funding rounds into CEE startups
here on the Dealroom platform.
By city
Tallinn,
Zagreb and
Prague are the cities within CEE that have raised the most capital.
By industry
The
top three Central Eastern European industries for VC investment raised in 2022 were
Transportation,
Fintech, and
Foodtech, which combined accounted for 70% of total VC investment across the region.
The leading sub-industries in CEE receiving the most VC investment include
food logistics & delivery,
logistics & delivery and
vehicle production.
Explore VC investment funding by sub-industry
here on the platform.
Sources of capital
Early stage funding rounds primarily come from domestic and other European sources, however later stage funding tends to come from overseas investors.
Explore this investment data
here on the Dealroom platform.
Unicorns
The CEE startup ecosystem has minted
46 unicorns and
40+ future unicorns.
After the peak in new unicorn creation in 2021, the creation of both new unicorn and future unicorns has slowed down significantly, signalling that new unicorns are once again becoming rare beasts.
Discover these CEE unicorns in this interactive Dealroom landscape below (link)
Investors
Explore the data for the most active investors into CEE startups as well as the most active CEE based investors
here on the Dealroom platform.
Related Content
Guides: Baltics startup ecosystem guide
Reports: CEE startup ecosystem report 2022
Reports: Browse all
CEE region ecosystem reports on Dealroom
Dealroom Data: Explore all the
funded CEE startups and scaleups